Call for special issues
Call for a special issue for 2021 and beyond
Evidence & Policy is a leading interdisciplinary, social science journal. Our focus is on scholarship concerned with the interplay between evidence and policy/practice. Each year, the journal publishes a special issue that takes a thematic or methodological focus that is important to this interdisciplinary field. We are currently seeking proposals for a special issue of Evidence & Policy to be published in 2021 or later. Interested applicants are asked to submit a two-page proposal to the journal (EvidenceAndPolicy@ed.ac.uk) by 1st October 2020. The proposal should include the following information:
- A description of the focus of the special issue
- A rationale for this focus, which should reference existing scholarship on this topic and any evidence of academic, policy and/or practice interest in the topic
- An outline of the anticipated content of the special issue, which should include an editorial by the guest editors, at least seven research papers and one debate or practice piece. This should give an indication of how firm the commitment is for suggested authors and pieces
- A description of the editorial team, which should include a summary of any relevant editing experience
- A production timeline
- A contingency plan for managing any problems that may arise (e.g. difficulties in obtaining reviews for a particular paper or options for generating the necessary content should any expected submissions drop out or be rejected during peer-review)
- Plans for promoting the special issue, including via social media (including Twitter and blogs)
For context, recent special issues have focused on:
- Opening up evidence-based policy: exploring citizen and service user expertise (guest edited by Ellen Stewart, Jennifer Smith-Merry and Marc Geddes)
- Building a Bridge between Knowledge and Practice: the role of co-creative approaches (guest-edited by Annette Boaz and Allison Metz)
- Networks and network analysis in evidence, policy and practice (guest-edited by Kathryn Oliver and Moira Faul)
- Advancing evidence-informed sustainable development policies: innovative approaches addressing the science-policy interface (guest edited by André Martinuzzi and Gerd Scholl)
- Guidelines in the play of governance: epistemic issues (guest-edited by Ger Wackers and Rolf Andreas Markussen)
Guest editors are supported through the development and review process by the editorial team (the current editors, Kat Smith and Paul Cairney and the Editorial Assistant, Taya Collyer). Any proposals for special issues that are received will be discussed at an Editorial Board meeting, with a formal decision being made shortly after. In advance of this, anyone considering developing a proposal for a special issue of Evidence & Policy is welcome to informally discuss their ideas with the co-editors-in-chief (please email EvidenceAndPolicy@ed.ac.uk).